Passenger Seat

It was a beautiful night. Ryou could see that simply by looking out the murky car window. The '61 Biscayne rattled along the country road in pure, untouched darkness; the only light source being that of the dirtied headlights that barely lit up to 5 metres. Despite the high possibility of crashing, Ryou was perfectly calm. He stared out the window and watched as stars floated along in the sheet of navy and could see the long grass swaying in the fields. He looked over, with hazel eyes, to the driver seat where Bakura sat. Both teens had found it uncanny how much they looked alike, yet they weren't related. They had checked that before going out.

Like Ryou, Bakura had long white hair and a pale complexion; only he appeared more dark and mysterious. His hair was wild and unruly, whereas Ryou's was soft and silky; his eyes were a sharp bloody red, but Ryou's were a much softer texture and light hazel. It was the little things that made them different.

Bakura's eyes were always looking ahead, and his lips remained sealed. He may not have even noticed Ryou staring at him lovingly, but he looked – at least Ryou thought - beautiful like this. The dim light coming from the headlights highlighted every feature. If he had had a camera, Ryou would have loved to take a picture to keep that scene in his mind forever. His dreaming was soon disturbed when Bakura's eyes darted in his direction before turning back to the road.

"What are you looking at?" He said playfully. His voice was forced to compete with the bumps and rattles of the car. Ryou smirked and turned to face the front window.

"Oh, nothing." The car steadily turned a corner and revealed even more fields. Bakura had never said where it was they were going. But Ryou trusted him and knew whatever it was Bakura had meant to keep it from the younger. Unfortunately for him, Ryou was impatient and hated having secrets kept from him.

"So, where are you dragging me on this chilly, yet wonderful night?" He mused, swaying slightly along with his own tune. Bakura chuckled and let one hand slide from the steering wheel.

"It's a surprise. So you'll just have to wait." Ryou pouted.
"But I want to know now." He paused for a second, and then leaned up against Bakura's shoulder. "If you tell me now then I might just decide to do something special for you." He said in a sensual voice. Bakura mocked a pondering look on his face and the wrapped his free arm around his love's shoulders.

"As tempting as that may be, I have to decline." He pecked Ryou on the cheek before pulling away and returning his attention to the night road ahead.

Ryou sighed and leaned back in his seat. He pulled his legs up onto the leather seat and crossed them to get more comfortable. Then, after a brief pause, he leaned over and switched on the radio. The reception was so bad that the white noise was all that could be heard. He tried to adjust the tuner but still nothing; and with that he turned it off again. His hazel eyes peered curiously at Bakura from the corner of his eye and the older showed no signs of letting up.

Guess I'll just have to wait. Ryou thought, disappointed.

About ten minutes had passed when Ryou found himself fidgeting and not too sure if there even was a destination. They were still in the middle of nowhere, but Bakura hadn't even flinched. Ryou did trust him with all his heart… but this was starting to get ridiculous. The younger teen could feel his eyelids growing heavier. The radio clock buzzed out 23:03, and Ryou knew he wouldn't be able to stay awake much longer. Surely Bakura wouldn't mind if he nodded off for a while until they got to their destination. Ryou looked sleepily out of his side window, but the dust that covered the glass made it hard to see. Finally having found something to distract him from tiredness, Ryou wound the window down and looked out over the shadowed fields of long grass as the cold night air clawed at his face and hair. It was a wonderful feeling. He let his hand drift out into the open so the wind pushed it back, and he felt as though he could take off into the night sky. He looked over to Bakura and smiled, who had been watching him, but quickly turned away.

"Close the window, Ryou." He whined. "I'm frozen!" Ryou just chuckled and smiled.

"Not afraid of a little cool air are we?" He mocked.

"No!" Bakura smirked as he looked back round to Ryou (slowing the car slightly of course so he wouldn't crash). "I just don't want you to get a cold."

"Oh come on Bakura." Ryou laughed. "You know as well as I do that you don't get a cold from being cold."

"Well aren't you a little smart arse?" Bakura said slyly, leaning close to Ryou's face. The younger's eyes widened and he yelled.

"Bakura! Keep your eyes on the road!" Bakura suddenly snapped out of his playfulness and quickly turned to face the road, only to realise he had missed a turn and was now headed for the bank at the edge of the road.

"Shit!" He hissed, rapidly and desperately turning the steering wheel to skid away from the banks. If the car fell in there then they would never get it out. Both briefly sighed in relief when the car got back on the road but both screamed aloud when they went right into a tree trunk. Their bodied were thrown forwards and dragged back again by their seatbelts and they just sat there, stunned as the engine began to let steam clouds off.

Bakura sat breathing heavily. He slowly turned his head, causing his neck to crack loudly, and looked at Ryou; who was laid back in his seat with his head turned slightly the other way – eyes closed. Bakura's heart skipped a beat and he quickly undid his seatbelt and clambered over to Ryou's seat.

"Ryou! Ryou!" He yelled, shaking the other desperately. "Ryou, please wake up!" The teen froze when a strange gurgling noise erupted from the other's stomach and a burp forced its way out of Ryou's mouth. The younger opened his eyes slowly and chuckled lightly.

"Damnit." Bakura blinked; clueless. Then his expression changed to one of annoyance.

"You little prick!" He yelled. "I thought you were fucking dead!" He dug his fingers into Ryou's shoulders and continued to shake him as he spoke.

"Ouch!" The other squeaked.

"Oh you deserve it." Bakura said flatly as he leg go and moved back from his boyfriend.

"No seriously I mean it." Ryou said, raising his hand to his head. "I think I hit my head." Bakura moved forwards again and inspected Ryou's head, and a small patch of his silver hair had been dyed red from the blood that was coming from his head.

"Oh shit! Do you feel alright?"

"Yea, I feel fine it just stings a little." Ryou giggled. Bakura sighed in relief.

"Well I'd better call someone." With that, he climbed his way back to his seat and pushed the door open and stepped out onto the frosted grass. It crunched with every step he took towards the concrete road and left clear footprints. Reaching into his pocket, Bakura pulled out a cell phone and checked the screen. No signal. "Crap." The sound of the other car door opening caught his attention and Ryou stumbled out, and not just in a clumsy way, he was seriously struggling to keep his balance. Bakura ran over and grabbed him and leaned him up against the side of the car. "Damnit Ryou!" He said.

"Bakura I'm fine." Ryou insisted, despite the fact he could barely stay still leaning against the car, let alone on his own two feet.

"Ryou just stay in the car. You're in no condition to be walking around."

"But it's only a small wound, it can't be that bad."

"Ryou I'm telling you now, get back in the car and stay warm. If something were to happen to you I'd never forgive myself." Bakura helped Ryou back into the passenger seat and made sure he wouldn't fall out. "Here, take my jacket." Bakura slid the thick materialed clothing from his body and placed it around the other's shoulders. He shut the door and walked back to the side of the road. At least that way if anybody came by then they would see him.

A breeze began to pick up and chilled Bakura to the bone; now in nothing but a thin white t-shirt, he wasn't exactly proofed against the cold. He huddled up and looked left, then right. There were no signs of a car coming, nor did he even see any houses, or light that could be from houses, nearby. This was not what he had wanted. He had planned a lovely weekend away with Ryou and it had gone to shot! But hopefully he could get this sorted out and then they'd be headed for the wonderful inn he had booked a room in.

After a few minutes of freezing to death, Bakura headed back to the car. It was unlikely a car would come by seeing as it was now around midnight and they were in the middle of nowhere! As he headed for his door, Bakura kicked the side of the car.

"Shit!" He screamed and leaned against the vehicle. There was a small sound of rummaging as Ryou opened the car door and popped his head out.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Oh nothing." Bakura sighed and peered over at Ryou. The patch of red in his hair had got bigger, which meant the bleeding hadn't stopped. "Ryou!" He yelled and dove forwards and moved closer to his love.

"What? What is it?" Ryou enquired as Bakura moved the hair away as much as possible and examined the wound closer.

"You're still bleeding… that cant be good." He moved further into the car and leaned over the seats to look around in the back. Seconds later he pulled away and cussed. "Damn, there's nothing I can cover it with…" Ryou watched curiously as Bakura ripped the end of his sleeve and ended up with a rough piece of cloth.

"Here." He breathed as he wrapped it around Ryou's head and covered the wound. He moved back and smiled reassuringly. Ryou smiled back with that wonderfully bright smile of his.

That was the smile that had won Bakura's heart: that and the sheer beauty of the younger boy. He was so feminine but it suited him. He soon found himself staring into those wonderful eyes and shook his head to stop him from slipping into a daydream; he couldn't afford to lose focus now or they'd be stuck here all night.

"Wait here." He said quickly before getting back out of the car and running to the front. He lifted up the bonnet as much as possible and peered into the engine. He didn't really know what he could do because he was only good with simple mechanics and to add to the fun, it was almost pitch black (he knew there was a reason he didn't like the country side).

"Bakura!" Ryou called from inside the car, and not wanting to ignore his love, Bakura closed the bonnet and headed back to the driver's seat.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Why don't you just sit in here with me? You're going to freeze to death if you just hang about outside in nothing but your shirt." Bakura frowned.

"I'm not just in my shirt. I'm in my jeans too." Then Ryou frowned.

"You know what I mean. You don't want me to get ill; well I don't want you to get ill either."

"But I need to get the car working again."

"Why? Wouldn't it be better to wait till morning? Then at least you can see what you're doing and it will have warmed up." Bakura sighed.

"Because I just have to. I went through too much trouble for this weekend and I'm not letting some stupid tree ruin it." Bakura began to make his way out of the car again, but Ryou grabbed his arm.

"Bakura, it doesn't matter! Nothing is so important that you should freeze to death over it: even if it was just something to do with me." He muttered the last part, but Bakura still heard.

"Ryou I wanted this weekend to be perfect… it hasn't even started and something like this has already happened because I was being an idiot!" Bakura looked out to the front of the car. "I made this mess and now I'm going to fix it." He made to get out of the car again, but Ryou tightened his grip.

"I won't let you."
"Ryou. Let me go." Bakura said, his expression showing his seriousness.

"No."

"Just let me go!"

"No I won't!"

"RYOU-"

"What's so important that it's worth being like this over? All it is is some stupid weekend away so we could spend time together and to be totally honest I can't see the point because we spend time together all the time and you never needed to do something like this before!" Bakura's eyes were now wide as he was taken aback. "So just tell me Bakura, what could be so damn important that you want to make me worry that you're going to freeze to death or something?"

"I WAS GOING TO ASK YOU TO MARRY ME!"

Ryou sat there: his mouth was gaping open and his eyes just stared ahead blankly. Bakura could feel his hand physically shivering as it held onto his arm and watched as he slowly lowered his gaze and moved back to the passenger seat. Both sat in complete silence for what felt like hours. The wind began to pick up again and the leaves rustled in the trees and the grass swayed violently. There was a distant 'hoot' of an owl that could only be heard because the door on the driver side was still open a jar. Bakura shivered a little as the breeze blew right up his back and into the car. He kept his eyes on Ryou always. The smaller teen was just huddled in his seat and staring out the front window. A small cloud appeared in front of both their faces as their warm breath clashed with the cool air.

The buzzing clock showed 00:30 when Bakura finally decided to say something:

"I'd wanted it to be perfect." Ryou turned and looked at him.

"What?"

"You know… I'd planned it out. A nice inn with a big bedroom, a walk out to the lake nearby… I had it all in my head." Ryou sighed and looked away again.

"Why?"

"Because I'd seen movies and stuff where guys make huge big public displays and everyone was happy and-"

"I don't mean that." Ryou frowned. "I mean… why do you want to?" Before Bakura could even draw breathe to answer, he continued. "I'm nothing special. My grades are average, I'm way too skinny, I get in moods easily and I'm ugly." Bakura's eyes widened and he face Ryou.

"You're not ugly." Ryou turned to face him curiously. "Ryou, you're the most beautiful person I've ever met." Ryou's cheeks flushed a light shade of pink and he looked away.

"That's not true." He muttered.

"Yes it is! And I don't care about any of that other stuff! Ryou, I love you!" He paused. Saying those words felt so strange: he had said them before but never in that way. It was like all those other times he had just said it for the sake of it; but this time he truly meant them. "That's why I want to marry you." Ryou sighed silently.

"Ask me then." Bakura blinked and Ryou turned and looked him straight in the eye (or at least as straight as he could in this light). "Ask me…" He breathed. Bakura jerked and began to rummage through his pockets. When he finally found what he was looking for in his back pocket, he produced a small black box and held it out in front of him. He glanced up at Ryou, who was looking at the box, and then back down; and slowly his numbed fingers reached over and lifted the lid gently.

"Ryou…" He said, voice shaking and nerves wracking his body. "W-will y-y-you m-marry me?" He stuttered so much it was almost inaudible. The cold didn't help either, but Ryou understood. Bakura looked up, almost dreading what he would see, but found Ryou's face shining with his beautiful smile and tears welled up in his eyes.

"Of course I will." He choked out and threw his arms around Bakura. The older was still in shack and slowly wrapped his arms around Ryou: a clear pink tint in his cheeks.

"Are-are you sure?" Bakura asked as Ryou moved back. This gave him a punk on the shoulder.

"Oh shut up you." Ryou said playfully and kissed Bakura on the lips before he could say another word.

Bakura ran his hand up and down Ryou's back as he lay, half asleep in the back seat of the Biscayne. Ryou's naked body was lying on top of his and both lay sleepily as the early morning sun shone through the dusty windows. Bakura groaned as he stretched out his legs and arms as far as they would go before letting his arms land back on Ryou, who stirred at the disturbance and lifted his head slowly. He looked at Bakura confusedly before blinking and coming to his senses. He smiled lovingly.

"Morning." He chirped, and then kissed Bakura on the lips.

"Good morning yourself." Bakura said with a deep chuckle and then kissed Ryou again. They both began to make a repeat of last night's events until something sparked in Bakura's head. "Shit!" He hissed as he suddenly sat up, Ryou still resting on his chest and looking at Bakura with concern.

"What is it?" He asked sweetly.

"I paid for a freaking room and we just had to sleep in a fucking car!" He yelled. Ryou blinked then hit Bakura's chest.

"You could pick a better time to worry about money." He said, feeling slightly offended. "Isn't it more important that we just spent out first night together?" Bakura looked down at him and smiled.

"Of course it is… but that skank at the inn's just run off with about £100." Ryou sighed.

As he argued with Bakura over why he seemed more concerned about money, Ryou wondered why on earth he had agreed to marry this guy… well that was obvious when he got past the annoying personality. It was because he loved him.